A Tale Or Two: The Beginning
by terry nightstalker
Summary: "The sun rose early on my third birthday. As always, a thin mist fell from heaven down of lord pein's country." Living with alone with her mother in a Ame after Hanzo's defeat, History sets the board for the Tale of Riku Mei. Part one of A Tale or Two. Next Installment: Tale or Two: Rise of the Uzumaki. (see profile for summary of all of Tale or Two).
1. The Trappings of a beginning

The Trappings of a Start.

**this is an idea I had. Tell me what you think...**

The sun rose early on my third birthday. As always, a thin mist fell from heaven down of lord pein's country.

Ame.

My home.

Mom tells me stories sometimes of the time when a big lizard lay over us. Lord pein saved us. That's what mama tells me. We live under his and lady angels gentle rule and blessings fall on us ever since god and his angel killed the lizard. I think they saved us from being squashed.

Outside was like watercolors. I wondered if, if I went outside, I would be colored red? But it was my birthday, and so I got onto wobbly feet and ran across the room to where my clothes were. Mama always made me bathe before breakfast if it was warm enough, so I hurried up. I couldn't remember my last birthday, but I knew that it was an important and wonderful day. I couldn't wait. I dashed outside across the street and down an alley to where a broken pipe dripped water into a bowl. I put off my clothes, picked the bowl up and slowly poured some over my front. Mama always told me to use as little as possible and not to get my hair wet. She says we aren't the only ones using the water and getting wet hair too often makes you ill. So I'm extra careful. I want today to be brilliant.

I put on my clothes again, and they stick to my skin. It's cold so I'm shivering as I run back in to wake up mama. She's curled up with two bottles of smelly stuff in her arms. Another bottle is empty and a fourth is broken, making the smelly stuff spill on the floor. I try shaking mama. It stinks and my eyes water, but I shake anyway.

"Mommy!" More shaking.

"Mommy wake up!" Her eyes open slowly to look into my grinning face.

"It's my birthday!" She groaned...

"Alright darling gimme a sec." ... and promptly turned over.

I put my hands on my hips and put on a pout.

"Moo-Meee, I already bathed. Wake up!" When she doesn't react I throw my self onto her.

"Oomph. What the hell gaki!" She sits up, throwing me off her and throwing me a glare. I right myself and grin at her.

"My birthday."

She scowls

"Fuck that."

I stick my tongue out at her, being careful to be out of grabbing distance.

Growling she stands up and I run out giggling.

Later, when mama's washed, and caught me to give me a noogie, after I've surrendered, me and mama head out for breakfast.

It's my birthday, so me and mama dig and dig in the corner of our room until we dig up a old shiny box that mama said was once her mama's, my grandma's but she's dead now. I ask what dead is and mom says gone. I ask when she's coming back and mama says that the dead are gone forever. Forever is such a long time. Nothing lasts that long. So I tell her not to cry cuz baaba'll be back and she smiles a not-smile that bends in weird places and says ' oh sweety'.

Inside the box are lots of things that were keeping safe until the dead wears off of our family. There's grandpa's ring and grandma's dress-thing and a few metal plates with pictures on. There's also lots of paper-pictures and paper with squiggles on it. There's also a bag full of metal discs, which is what mommy pulls out now. She also picks up a photo ofo my dad. He's tall with red hair, and mama always seems much sadder looking at that picture than when talking about grandma. He's gone she'd say to me when I ask. 'Just gone.'

The pouch goes under mum's jacket and we leave home to go out into the rain. People are waking up, so me and mommy aren't alone outside. I hold on to mom's skirt as she walks. We don't talk. I can see the older kids picking stuff away from rich people. When one of them comes towards mama I scowl and shake my head. Mama says we have to protect the box. To never tell anyone where it is. Since the discs were in it, I do the same for them. No-one is taking something important to mama. A ninja jumps over us, and my eyes follow him. I her a soft whoa and see it's from the kid who tried taking from us. It's a girl like me. She looks at me and this time in nod my head. Ninja are awesome.

We stop at a bakery. Everything is so posh. I feel like hiding, but moma squares her shoulders and walks in, so I stick out my chest and walk in.

Mommy buys two weird thingies that we eat on the only tree I know. They taste delicious and make me feel almost painfully full.

"So, sweetie, you are four now." I only nod. I feel tired. Mom flicks my nose.

"You know whats missing? A present." My eyes light up.

"Really? A present? What is it what is it what is it. Come on." Ii pout when mom only shakes her hear with a smile on her face. Its a present in itself. Mom doesn't smile properly often anymore. She hands me a box. I Accept it and carefully pull off the lid. Inside is that mouth thing shinobi use. I just stare.

"It's a rebreather. Come, I'll help you put it on." I nod me head, jumping as I hold it out to her. It's awesome.

I run to a puddle to admire my reflection. Grey eyes stare out at me, from a pale freckled face framed in red hair. Momma says it's dark scarlet, it's much darker than dady's. The rebreather fits over my mouth and nose. I look amazing. Fantastic. Super. Suplichious. Fantadastic. I don't know any more words.

"Thank you" I say and throw myself at mama. For a moment she starts, and I wonder why. Then she hugs me back tightly.

**and so goes the first chapter and introduction of "A Tale Or Two". {Currently unedited} **

**It's not much to go on, but I hope it will act as a teaser. Expect the next chapter tomorrow.**

**I have not written anything in quite a while so bare with me. However, if there is interest, I have this planned out for at least 50 chapters... **


	2. Money makes the World go round

"Sit down sweetie."

Every Sunday, me and mama play a game. Mama says that all of ame does it with us. We sit on the road, and look into the rain.

"Oh hear us." A voice starts. As always, it's the old scarecrow at the end of the road, the one with the black teeth.

"Hear of our sorrows and fears."

"Hear us pray to your greatness"

"Our savior and god"

More people join in.

"Our brothers"

"My husband"

"The kids"

"My daughter" mama says

"My sons"

"Our fathers" the kid from two homes down says. I'm next.

"Our mothers" I say happily.

"Hear us lord pein." And then it's quiet again. Mama puts her head down and I can hear her mumbling something. I copy her. I know we need to pray now. So here goes. Lord pein, lady angel. All I really want is that the gone wears off my father, and the dead off the rest of my family. Also, there's lotsa people here that want to join the ninja. Let us? Done, I look up. Everyone is still praying. Quickly I look down again. I won't mess this up for anyone.

...

A month after my birthday mama came home skipping.

"Oh darling I've been promoted."

"What is promoted."

"It means I've got a better job."

Now I've never really liked when mama left me. But mama says she does it so she gets the disks, money.

"I'm no longer a cleaner. I organize now."

I look at her, not really knowing what to say.

"Congratulations?"

"Yup. I can afford school for you now."

"School?"

She smiles.

I learn what school is a week later, when mama brings me to a building surrounded by children older than me. The day before she had taken me shopping, and so I now wore a kimono.

Mama tells me that normally one starts school with six, so I would be the youngest. I don't mind. School is the first step to being a ninja.

I sit in the classroom. Around me the others chat waiting for the professor to arrive. Mama was right when ahead said I'd be the youngest. Everyone is tall and looks down on me.

The door opens and in walks the professor.

...

School quickly became the bane of my life. The professor hated me cuz I wasn't as fast as the others and my classmates were mean.

When at home, mama would spend time teaching me how to read. She would show me newspapers and explain what the kanji meant. It was like learning pictures.

I think it was about a week in, when I stopped coming to class. The professor never taught me anything, and mama was better anyway. I did go to school though. The thing is, I had found treasure there. A room full of words. In it were stories and explanations and descriptions and dictionaries. I read and read. I stayed later and later. When mama asked, I'd tell her I was out with friends. I didn't like lying to mama, but I had to know more! The stories were interesting and explained things. I now knew what an iq was and how to test for acidic soil. I knew about hi no kuni and mizu no kuni and what a yamato nadeshiko was. I knew how to integrate and what calcium carbonate looked like. And I now knew i had a selectively eidetic memory. It was awesome. I could feel my brain getting better.

Once, I stayed so late that the door was locked. I didn't notice until it was dark. I panicked. I had read about lockpicking, and knew how a lock worked, but I could not find a pin. I piled up books to get to the window, but that was closed too. I ended up building a bookfort in the corner of the room, hiding out until the sun came out.

When mama asked the next day, I told her I was at a sleepover. Mama frowned but said nothing.

A month into school though, mama asked me straight out why I didn't go to school. She told me she was in debt, paying for my education and that she found it sad that I wasn't using the opportunity. Mama told me a teacher came by, suggesting I be pulled out of school since I was never in class and so much younger than the others. I decided to give class a try again, seeing as I hadn't been there for a month.

Surprisingly, it went rather smoothly. The other kids ignored my, which hurt a bit, but suddenly school made sense. More so, it made things I'd read about make sense.

Except for reading lessons. What our teacher was teaching us did not make sense. He says this symbol stood for the sound a, but I knew it didn't appear in the kanji for ame. Kanji were pictures, not sounds.

It was only two months later that this was explained, when our teacher told us we would now start memorizing kanji. It was only then that I asked misaka what we were learning before. I am an idiot.

(A/N: I don't know if they teach hiragana before kanji in Japan, but I've decided they do in the elemental countries.)

I met yuki the second time on a rare day the rain fell outside of Sunday. Mama says it used to rain all the time, but now pein only lets it rain on Sundays. Mostly. I wonder if other gods are like pain. Jashin, or the Sage?

Yuki was running away from a man, a loaf of bread in her arms. I had just left the school building via window, and seeing how terrifying the man looked with his length of metal, I quickly motioned her to follow me back inside. She jumped in and I slammed the window on him. I went and had a good look at her. She was thin. Very thin. Like that picture of that war refugee in the book about the second shinobi war.

"My name is mei, rika mei." I told her, hoping to get a reaction. She looked about my age.

"Yuki." She repliesd. I smiled, but I didn't know what to do.

"Are you hurt?" I asked. She shook her head. I look at her.

"You're that thief." I said. She's the one who nearly stole our money. She scarpered backwards, and I ignore it.

"You saw that ninja too, right? They're so cool."

She nodded hesitantly and I couldn't help it. I grabbed her hand and started dragging her home.

"My mama give me this awesome present. C'mon I wanna show it to you."

It was the first time I interacted with someone my own age, or so I thought. It was only later that I learned she was actually four years older than me.

It was around three months into my school year that food started getting scarce. Mama said the prices were rising because the war was ending, and mama spent more and more time away from home, working. I missed our evenings together, but it wasn't that bad.

Yuki had introduced me to her partners in crime, although I was pretty sure they were family to her.

There was armin, a shy boy of six with dreams of seeing the world and a huge brain. Then kole, a fifteen year old with a fowl attitude and a fowler temper, that he never pointed at the others. Then ren, who I was pretty sure was a prostitute, and the oldest at sixteen. Hugo and Jarvis came from sky and were the biggest troublemakers ever. They were twelve. And mikasa, who was nine and in my class.

The less time mama had, the more time I spent with them, and the more I started stealing.

When mama finally stopped eating, and started giving everything to me, I told her I'd steal our food. I told her to put me out of school, that she was important to me. I didn't want to see this. Mama grew angry and told me rather weakly never to steal again. Unhappily, I complied.

Two weeks later I came home after school to see mama lying on the floor crying. In her hand was the photo of daddy.

"Mama?"

She looked up, teary eyed.

"Hey darling." I ran over and hugged her.

"I'm such a bad parent, huh? God, I'm such a mess."

"Your my mamma." I said as if that explained it all. To me, it did.

"If I hadn't insisted on raising you on my own, we wouldn't be in this situation. God, fuck this shit."

"Mamma? What do you mean?"

"If I'd given you up for adoption you'd have propped parents, not a dad who went to visit relatives and never came back, and a mom that can't even get enough money together to pay for food. Imagine it, you'd be living in a castle, with feasts every day and friends and lots of dresses and -"

"Mama!" I gave her a tighter hug.

"Mama, I live in a castle and have feasts." She looks at me.

"Mama, a house is a castle and a feast can be made of bread and water. Neither is worth it without you. Don't leave me?"

"Dear, I love you." She was silent for a while, only hugging me.

"Mei, I lost a job. I won't be able to pay for school anymore.". I shook my head at her.

"I don't wanna quit school."

"Dear, we need the money from my other jobs for food."

"Then I'll deal with food. If you won't let me steal I'll find work." I knew I could do it too. Kale knew some places that allowed kids in, even if the stories I'd heard were not very nice. Apparently mamma had heard those stories too as she went white.

"Dear... oh, what the hell am I doing. Do you know how to steal?"

"I nod my head." She gives me a half grin. I'm just glad mama's alive again.

"Yuki?" I just look to the side.

"...alright. do you pickpocket? Run cons? Who's your backup. Are you backup? Do you break and enter, what are your targets." I look at her, completely overwhelmed. She sighs.

"Dearie, I won't let you do this unless it's as safe as I can get it." I just nod. To be honest, when I steal its always a bit of a spring of the moment thing. An apple here, a loaf of bread there. I only took part in professional operations as yuki calls them twice, and both times as backup. Mama seems to want a full thieving ring.

"I..."

"Don't lie." And when I look at mums face, she's scary, and I know I won't.

"I sorta stall rob." I tell her, feeling exceedingly uncomfortable.

She frowns at me and sighs.

"I.." then she frowns deeper, but I can see a spark in her eyes that tells me we'll be alright. It's the spark that tells you she's about to prank you, or she finds something challenging and fun. It's a spark I haven't seen for a long time.

"Yuki must have some sort of thieving ring going." I nod. Yuki asked me not to tell on them but this is mama. A mama with a plan. amanaplanaCanalpanama.

"Can you get yuki here?" I just grin at her.

"Course!"

Three days later the entire group was crammed into our one room hut. Kolbe was missed at me at first, but yuki and misaka managed to talk her down. I think the fact that misaka, with all her paranoia was for mamma made him back down Hugo and Jarvis didn't seem angry, but with those two that sort of thing would stay hidden. I expected pranks. Vicious ones. Ren was thinlipped but unwilling to say anything, while arming actually raised his voice to scold me about general security and 'common consensus' in jargon I didn't really understand. And I'd read through three dictionaries.

Anyway we ended up in our room, mum perched on a box and the rest of us on the floor.

"Ok. Let's get this started. My baby's convinced me to let her run with you guys, but I'd be deluded if I let her hang around anything but professionals. So name and speciality."

"Hugo, burglary"

"Jarvis, same."

"Armin, conning"

"Mikasa, general helper and pickpocket."

"Kole, banditry and some conning."

"Ren, pickpocket."

"Yuki, general hit and run and con helper."

Mama nodded. "Ren, I'm guessing you help out where you can aswell?" Ren twitched...

"I have another job." Mama just nodded.

"I'm surprised some of you specified pickpocket."

"Whaddaya mean?" Miasma asked.

Mum just shrugged.

"I knew a thief once. He gave me the impression that being klepto was the basics." Now everyone looked uncomfortable. She chuckled.

"The same thief so happens to have taught me a few things." She sighed. "There are four ways of the streets. Luck, the orphanage, the gangs and the ninja. Luck never happens, the orphanage often leads back to the streets and is only temporary anyway. That leaves the gangs and the ninja. To survive with both you have to be good." I look at her. I never knew she knew thief.

"So, I'll teach you what I can remember."

The next few weeks were tough. On top of school and thievery we spent ages training. At first mama give each of us a person type to follow. After a few days she would ask us to tell her all we could about the body language and verbal ticks of this persona. Then she'd choose another type. After we had gone through five or six she had us spend days mimicking each other, and then those personas we had examined. On weekends she'd give us random targets to follow and then report on. Later she had us steal something off of them. After a month, she went over to randomly telling us to pickpocket things from people in the most impossible situations and then give it back. All without them or her noticing. She'd have us do shopping by picking off of stores, and me an mikasa were told to go to school with earplugs to learn to cheat and lipread. The others were given similar exercises. We spent more than one day blindfolded, and a few days both blindfolded and earplugged. After we stopped running into things and could deal, she had us start inventing more and more complex cons and tell her all that could go wrong on them. Then she started giving us buildings to sneak in at all times of the day and do a multitude of things from actually taking something to turning all the furniture upside down. We learnt a lot.

Then she gave us a test. Going on our original specialities, we had to pull off a theft.

Hugo and Jarvis had to steal the bride dress of the local business tycoons bride at their wedding, kole and armin had to pull off a con in which they had to make it look like an innocent bystander were conning the target and themselves conning the target using something we'd normally do all together. Yuki and I had to steal a two meter statue in a hit and run and miasma and Ren had to pick this off us without us noticing and then dump it in the public square.

For me and yuki, it was surprisingly easy after some Intel gathering. I simply told the manager that I had accidentally chipped some paint off of the statue. He told my parents had to pay for it. Me, playing the bratty rich kid, said: "cool. And my parents will have to pay, yeah?" Meanwhile, two workers were putting the statue on a trolley. I chuckled evilly. And ran into the store screaming "let's break stuff!" Meanwhile, yuki grabbed the trolley and ran. I hid and changed mask and met her around the corner where we put on rain hitai ate we had snitched and, playing genin on d rank, pulled the trolley which now had a red tarp I'd taken from the store draped over it. I had on the rebreather, to make it more believable.

We were almost at our checkpoint, when we hit a collapsed bridge and had to turn around. Problem was, on our new route was a steep hill. I exchanged glances with yuki. Here's where Ren and mikasa would hit. We started pushing up the hill, only for us to realize after a few metrs that we didnt have the strength two push it up the hill. I cursed fowly "of all times for midorikawa to need extra training." I threw myself against the trolley. "God damnit." Q chuunin took pity on us and started to help push, but the thing didn't move. A jounin and his apprentice approached us. Up close I saw that these were Ren and misaka.

"Here, let us help." Ren - the jounin - said. She got us all to let go and started pushing the cart up the hill at a run. Me and yuki hurried up, but for a moment the cart disappeared from our view. Mainly because we had to thank the chuunin. When we caught up, Ren was leaning against the cart, at the top of the hill.

"Here you go. The rest should be easy, right?"

We nodded. The moment the chuunin and jounin were gone, we checked under the tarp. Much to our surprise, the statue was still there. Carefully we walked upto the checkpoint, where we left the statue and hitai ate and scarpered.

Later that evening Momma told us that we all passed, evenue though some of our methods were essentially cons. She looked from me and yuki to Ren and mikasa.

"However, that's the end of it from me."

...

_so, a little late but twice as long :-)_


	3. Alcohol and Street Security

Life was easy after that. I learned in school, still spent a few days reading, and stole evenings and weekends. Mama played for

school and otherwise saved up money, and everyone was happier.

"Lord pein, I pray upon your greatness and the mercy of lady angel, let life remain easy."

However, not everyone could steal. We'd just gone through a war and a civil war. Hanzo had pumped us dry for funds, and the

civil war had done the rest. Now our supplies were running out and the other countries were recovering, driving prices into a range

where ame, with its slaughtered economy, could not pay or rebuild. Besides, pein was a god, not an economist. We were slowly

starving, as a nation. I saw it in our neighbors and the many students that dropped out of school. How, on Sundays, others would

pray for food. We all saw it in the increasing prices and decreasing amount of targets. Most prominently it appeared though in the

appearance of competition.

Now, we were never the only organized crime in ame. shinobi tended to leave civilan maters to the now nonexistant military, and

the old viligante groups of the civil war. In our district, Kole paid a gang for thieving permission and through Ren, who often told us

of cons and trials done in other areas of amegakure that she heard of in the red light district, we knew of the other small time

crime. We'd even heard of them from other areas. I still wonder why we were so unprepared. Why we never even suspected their

coming.

I was running a stall con, when I saw her running past, dressed in rags. Running behind her was a genin, throwing kunai at her. It

was eerily like the scene where I met yuki. She was even clutching a loaf of bread. I wondered what was going on, Kole had told

us this area was ours. I put the stolen figurine in my pocket, and followed them.

They ran around the city for over an hour, until the little girl (I say little - she was probably older than me) ran into two muscled

men in suits. That in itself was strange, they screamed both rich and dirt.

I watched as they looking at the girl with obvious disdain, took the bread from her unremitting arms and then tossed her aside.

Then they moved to tower over the genin, who was visibly shaking. I realized I remembered the genin from school, he was the

son of a diplomat of Hanzo. One of the men pulled out a butterfly knife and I decided the boy needed help. I put on my rebreather

and an ame head band and trotted up to the group.

"Drop your weapons." I said, trying to look threatening, well, as threatening as a three year old dressed in rags can be. The boy

looked at me gratefully anyway. His name was hikaru, I think?

The men turn to me and now the other guy is pulling out a switch blade. Around us was quiet, and I realized we were in an empty

alley.

"Drop your weapons in the name of the God Pein" I repeated myself. They didn't comply, instead they broke out into grins. Who

were they? I had, until then never seen genin downright ignored by civilians. Hikaru throws another kunai, and the two put away

their knives. Somehow, that isn't a good thing. I try to run but they catch my arm. Hikaru is on the ground holding his ribs, out of

the corner of my eye I see the girl stare at us with wide eyes. I try to scream, but I can't hear anything. Then something hits my hip

1.0 Alcohol and street security (chap 3 -full)

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and the world is underwater. Another hit to my stomach, a flash of silver and a pain in my foot, another and they're carving a line

down from my eye. They're saying something but I don't know what. I can see Hikaru a bloody mess on The ground and the girl is

crying, screaming, and I still can't hear anything. A smash and the rebreather is off my face and the line continues through my

clothes down to my foot. It's like I'm a salmon. Finally they jam a knife through my hand and all I see before I black out is the

salamander on the hilt, and the salamander branded on their necks.

It isn't raining when I wake up. I try to listen to the drop of water, the drop that means peace to ame, but it isn't there. Everything

hurts like I fell down a set of stairs a few times, and a line of fire goes from my forehead all the way down my body. My hand and

foot feel like someone shoved a knife through them and my left eye is wet. Somehow that scares me the most. I open the other

eye. Infront of me is the knife, it's dark but I can see the metal reflecting. My hand is black, covered in dry blood. In the reflection I

can see my headband, Hanzo carved into it by a knife. The knife slipped a few times leaving red rivers flowing down my face.

They dried out now. One line heads from under my eyebrow down my face, past my eye and ripped up lips. But on the closed

eyelid, someone has carved a salamander. A salamander. I twitched and promptly screamed in pain. Ha, pain, pein, funny. And

blacked out. The second time I came to, things hurt a little more. I opened one eye, and leaving my gaze drift to my lips and chin.

Bits of metal were sticking out of my cheek and I had a split lip. My eyes travel down the knife to where it is imbedded in my hand.

I lift up my other, shaking hand and grip the knife. I do not want to pull it out. But I have to. My breathing is coming fast and my

fingers tingle. Bloodloss a part of me tells me. I jank and scream. When my vision is no longer red, I see blood, fresh blood dream

piping out of my hand. I realized I was lying in a pool of blood. Slowly I sit up, and pull the switchblade out of my foot almost

absentmindedly. What was one meant to do with cuts again? Oh yea. I rip the ends of my pants and bandage my hand and foot. I

try standing up, but only end up collapsing. Suddenly I see my rebreather. It's mostly ok. I pick it up, absentmindedly pulling

splinters out my face to see where they used to fit. My left eye stings, then my cheeks and I'm crying, sobbing, cuz my rebreather

survived, and for a moment I'm hysterically happy even though Hikaru isn't there anymore, so he abandoned me, cuz my

rebreather survived and so everything is ok. When the sun turns the mist red as my hair, as blood, as it was on the day I got my

rebreather, I start thinking about walking again. I recognize where we are, it's were I bathed every morning. It's not far. I pick up

and close the two knives - they're mine now - and hide them together with the mangled head band under my clothes. I pick myself

up, and walk towards home.

The next time I wake up to Ren's face.

"Here" she says and hands me a bottle. I pick

it up and drink. It's vile. I sniff, and realize it's alcohol. It helps the pain so I drink some more. Kole walks in, and I realize I'm not at

home, or at base. He pales and walks up to me.

"What happened?" He whispers. I drink some more. Ren shakes her head. I don't know where I am.

"Jarvis and Hugo found her like this in an alley."

His face frowns and the doubles. I drink some more.

"Do you know who?" I giggle and grab another bottle and drink.

"Wait. What is this?" He grabs the bottle and I wine.

"How much has she she had?"

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My head hurts when I wake up, both from outside and inside. I lift my hand up, and it's bandaged. I sit up and feel may face and

foot. Everything's bandaged. I look around with my one eye, and realize I'm in an empty warehouse, full of people. I'd been lying

on a bench in the corner while there was some sort of meeting going on. I can't hear much, as at least twenty people are crowded

around a table. I slip off the bench and stand on the floor. My left foot is still almost unusable but I walk slowly towards the crowd.

They're talking cuts and territory infringement, and I can see armin on Kyle's shoulders. I realize I'm at gang headquarters. I

automatically try to look presentable, but with bloodsoaked cut up clothes that is impossible. My bandages are white though and

cover all of my body that I can see. The human bods contains around eight liters of blood. I try not to think about how much blood

decorated that alley, but it was a lot. Too much to be alive but I ignore it.

"Mei!" It's armin, he jumps off Kole and gives me a hug. I sway.

"You're alive!" I grin.

"Yup."

Kole ruffles my hair.

"She comes straight out of coma and gets drunk."

"What do I hear about drunk" and it's Momma in the door and for a moment I wonder why it took me so long to realize she's an

alcoholic.

"What did I tell you about drinking? Especially about my treasure and alcohol, fucker?" She's livid and marching towards Kole and

I burst out laughing.

"And you riku mei, don't come home and I havta trawl through all of ame to ... find you. Momma turns to me and shuts up. I can't

stop laughing.

"What happened?"

"We don't know."

I just hug Momma. Kyle turns to me, hanging off Momma with armin hanging off me.

"Can you tell us what happened."

"I saw a thief, being chased by a genin so I followed. She bumped into two men who took her bounty and then they turned on me

and the genin. They beat us up. I think they were followers of Hanzo." I showed them the salamander on the hilt of the

switchblade. Kyle moved to take it from me. His hands near mine, the men, no, a pain in my eye, my foot my hand, salamander!

I was crouching on the floor.

"What?" It was over. It. Was. Over. I look up. Kyle looked broken.

"Sorry." I dust off my knees and stretch the hand with the blade towards Kyle. Kyle looks at me and slowly reaches for the blade,

looking worriedly at me every few seconds. He grips the blade and I will my hand to let go. He pulls, but my hand has an iron grip

on the knife. I just stare.

"Don't worry about it." Kyle says. I am worried. traumatic stress disorder. I relax and let go. The knife drops onto the

floor with a thump. I pull out the butterfly and the desecrated head protector and carefully put them into Kyle's hands. Then I put

the rebreather into mama's. It's hard, but I manage. No PTSD for me. The door bangs and I force myself not to jump. I look behind

me. It was just the wind. I walk back to the bench. I can feel everyone's eyes on me, but I don't care. I'm dead tired.

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I spent the next few weeks at home, always guarded by my mum. She burnt all my girly clothes, and the reason why hits me like a

sledge hammer and I feel sick. I was lucky. She cut my hair, now I look even more like dad. The others come by every now and

then. Mikasa and yuki joined the academy, Hugo and Jarvis are helping a local circus in town. Everyone is tense, I can see it it

Kole's eyes. He wants us all off the streets. Armin comes in one day with a broken arm. Says he was caught stealing. The next

day two boys come by, saying we have to pay or the Yakuza will set our house on fire. We pay, but some on our road don't and

get thrown out. The kid from two homes down who came before me on Sunday prayer moved in with us. His name is Juuji. He

spends most of the time helping Momma and away from me. Once he asks quietly what happened to me, and I don't answer. He

never asks again. Momma is sad again, until that changes into a cold determination I never saw in her eyes before. She starts

pushing Yuki and Mikasa towards the orphanage. One day Mikasa arrives with a missing finger, and crying. Then she only pushes

Yuki, and Yuki gives. Mikasa stays with us. She isn't how she used to be - the strength is all gone. I give her hugs and do what I

can, but I'm still confined to the bed. Besides, It hurt looking at me. I was lucky.

When the others come plan cons, they get more and more convoluted. We should stop, it isnt safe anymore, we all know that, but

we need the money. We need to pay for armin to get into highschool early, and for pretty clothes for yuki so she gets adopted by

good people. They also wont stop because they need to deal for me. I'm scarred, so the orphanage is out, and I'm too young for

the academy, besides, they might not even accept me. The scar tissue in my hand and foot might interfere. Jarvis and Hugo plan

to leave with the circus, and we wish them luck. Us young ones are relieved. Now only Ren and kole need a way out. And me.

Noone talks about mikasa. Yuki came, telling us about this ninja couple that were thinking of adopting her. They were rich, and

from what yuki said, they were kind. I and the others were going to do one or two gigs on them, and a bit of surveillqnce before we

let yuki go though. I was sure ren and kole were already doing so. Then came the day where my bruises were faded and the cuts

only silver lines on my skin. Mama removed the bandages and, for the first time in ages I was allowed outside. Of course

everyone was there. Juuji surprisingly got on well with Ren, so he was included. Mama used this moment to make an

announcement that had been burning on her tongue for a long time.

"I, am going to teach you a taijutsu style, and a few jutsu." My eyes were round as saucers. "The jutsu are mei's father's, and the

taijutsu I am going to teach you is a mixture of mine, his and that thief's"

"You know taijutsu?" She nods. Then Kole pulled out The knives. I gulped. "Mei, I'm gonna teach you to use these. And I'm going

to teach you all to street brawl."

Ren stepped forward. "I'll teach you all stuff that you will hopefully never have to use. Some of it is only useful for girls, but you

boys are going to learn anyway. Same thing vice versa."

"And," my mum added, "you are all saying here." No-one dared say anything at the look in her eyes.

And so we learnt how to throw a punch, play dirty and bend bones from Kole, I learnt how to use the knives.

Ren taught us how to kill someone on top of us, how to seduce, how to spot aphrodisiacs and poisons and sleeping agents in

food. How to put the above there, how to get out of bindings and fake pleasure, ten abortion methods and many, many baby tips.

My mom, she taught us jutsu. We couldn't use any, but knowing how they worked was worth knowing anyway. Mostly she taught

us water things like mizurappa and kirigakure no jutsu, but there were also a few others like daifoku or the great fireball. She

taught us the earth wall jutsu and a small lightning jutsu she didn't know the name of. She taught us utility jutsu is the hundreds

and about twenty-five variations of the dragon jutsu. She also taught us how to draw explosive, shock and light tags and sealing

seals. These, we discovered by pure chance worked if one added a few small changes and put lemon juice on top. Talk about

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strange.

The three taijutsu styles were strange. Dad's aimed for touches, and was mostly defensive. It seemed to rely on you putting tags

onto the other person, although it also had a few punch moves, those were often elbow or knee strikes. Mum's was a very heavy

hitter style that focused on kicks and jumps with little defense. The thief though, his was a dance. Moving arms and using the

other's energy to bash a person up. It was both the hardest to do and the most fun. Mama's was difficult energy wise and dad's

was easy but didn't seem very useful.

School was strange. I'd never really gotten on with anyone, but now class was split so half pitied me and the other was afraid. The

same had happened to my friends as well. For yuki half scorned her the other tried to butter her up, and half looked down at

mikasa and the other half hated her. It was strange. Me yuki and mikasa stuck together, helping mikasa when we had to and

generally ignoring everything else. My fourth birthday came and went without much noteworthy happening.

Then yuki hit us with a bomb. She was getting adopted. The next day we broke into her future home. Jarvis and Hugo dealt with

the alarms, Kole with the guard dog and the rest of us slunk into the house. It was a splendid building of western style, with

marble floor and staircasing and Japanese sliding doors. Her new room was decked out in nice blues and the cellar held practice

rooms aplenty as well as much weapon storage. Ren was with Yuki at the orphanage as acting sister. It was to be the first time

she sees her home. I knew she was going to hate us for spoiling it for her. The bell rang and we heard the butler open the door.

We hid in the shadows of the entrance hall, dressed in black and with kiri hunternin masks at the ready. We let them lead her

around the hospital see a while, before springing the trap. The woman was a brunette of hiding stand. Throwing off sex appeal

and the man - a bishounen. Quite honestly it looked to me as if they were in love with the idea of a daughter, and when the lady

was actually pregnant would throw yuki aside and probably break apart. I was not happy. Besides, how would they act if one of

them died? They were ninja.

I jumped down silently, hunternin mask in place. Mikasa got behind Yuki, a poisoned needle at her neck and her arms fast behind

her back. Hugo tackled Ren, knocking her 'unconscious' and trussing her up. I had one knife between the man's legs and the

other behind his main stomach artery armin pointed a gun at yuki's head, and Jarvis stood with a kunai at the lady's neck. Kole

stood between the pair and Yuki.

"We are here to capture prisoner 1534." I say in a monotone.

"Resistance will lead to death." Armin sais, addressing Yuki. Kole pulls out a scroll and hands it to the man. He opens it.

"A writ from pein." The woman looks at the man. The man nods and the woman slumps together.

"Yuki, is this true? Yuki?"

Yuki doesn't answer.

I see the pair look at each other and have a conversation with their eyes. Good. Very good. They are not ready to give her up just

like that, infact they are planning. I stomp on the part of me that screams Machiavelli.

"Yuki, say something." They are stalling for time. Footsteps are heard. We look at each other and disappear. They run straight to

yuki. I step back out and say in monotone.

"Prisoner 1534" they jump and automatically move into protective stances infront on yuki.

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"They pass." I smile and remove my mask. The others step out and do the same, and Ren stands up.

"...yuki?" The man says.

Ren smiles. "We're Yuki's family. We had to make sure her new parents are up to snuff."

I laugh. "See ya around Yuki."

And we walk out the . door.

"That was rather fun." Hugo says. I smile, and then I stop, because that is Hikaru over there, with two other genin.

I'm quiet for the rest of the day.


	4. Fire and the red dawn

Warning:this is the second of two chapters published.

* * *

It was the word on the street, lord pein was coming. We now prayed wary morning, as well as Sunday.

"He will make things better." Mama tells me.

I want to believe her, but she doesn't see where this mess is headed the way I do. With hunger comes Yakuza. And as Yakuza monopolize trade with slave labor and stolen money, we loose jobs and starve more until we're forced to join them. And the head honcho becomes richer and richer. I don't really know what pein-sama would do. Yakuza bosses are like hydra. Getting rid of one won't solve this. I know it's blasphemy, but I can't help wonder if Lord Pein knows this.

Besides, there are other problems. Like the guy Momma keeps talking to.

It started with a job. Mama was walking along one day when a man with dark hair and a beard approached her about wanting to join his company, and make some money 'escorting'.

Now Ren had told us what that meant, so I was not surprised when mama reacted quite violently.

'The fuck you think I am?' She told him. The man just chuckled.

'The offer is open. You'd do well.' She shook with rage, and I narrowed my eyes. That would go to Ren and Kyle. The man left, thank god, but that wasn't the end of it.

Mama had borrowed some money off of a richer man in the town middle. He'd told her to pay back when she could, and thanks to the sudden windfall in the form of a lost purse, she now could. Problem was the 'slimeball of a bastard' had sold the debt. To the yakuza. Protection charges he said.

The second time we saw the man was when I and mama went to the yakuza to clear the debt. The gate guard had led us to a small room, in which he was sitting.

'I've got the money to pay the debt.' She stretched out her arm. The man took the money and started counting.

'Not enough.'

'The fuck? Of course it's enough.'

'Looks like you'll have to work for me, then'

'Here.' A man is standing in the doorway, a smirk on his lips.

'That should be enough.' Mama looks up at him.

'Marvin!'

I do not know the man mama is hugging. I look away as a strange feeling creeps into my heart. I do not know him. Who is he.

A week later he was sitting inside our room when me and mikasa came back from conning. He was talking to Momma, and Momma had a handful of flowers in a broken jug between the two. Mikasa narrowed her eyes when she saw them.

Juuji looks up from his corner and scarpers over to us.

'Tadaima' I say softly.

Both look up, and the man picks up mama's hand and asks.

'Who are the children, thaila?"

She giggles as he kisses her hand, and I feel worse.

"Who are you." A hard voice asks behind us, and I turn around to see Kyle with an unconscious armin on his back. I hand him my bag and roll out a pile of blankets so we can put down armin. When we're sure armin is fine, mikasa standing before him like some demented guard dog, juuji when back to cooking food.

"Who is that, mama?" I ask, trying to act like the for years I'm supposed to be. When looks down at me, and my breath stills, cause there is the light in her eyes, and a truly happy smile on her face.

"Honey, this is Marvin. He's a traveling peddler and a childhood friend of mine." I nod meekly and kick at mikasa, who sits down, although still facing the man.

"And what is your name?" The guy asks me, before turning back to mama and saying "they aren't all yours, are they?"

"I am Riku Mei." I say.

"That's Mikasa, Kyle and Armin, and that's Juuji."

Kyle grips my arm. I just lean back against his legs. My other hand drags over his hand, where the gang tattoo is branded. Mama trusts the man. That's enough for now.

The man stays for dinner, a special of broiler fish I don't know how mama got her hands on. Over the day, more of us trickle in. The twins are immediately taken by Marvin, and spend quite a few hours chatting about business. Ren turns up to help mama cook, and even yuki turns up in new clothes, her parents out on a mission. Half way through dinner armin wakes up, and we tell him that we finally have enough together to send him to snow. Marvin takes interest in that, and offers to take him with him, when he next comes by. Armin has a pinched look on his face, and we are all waiting for Marvin to leave so he can tell us what happened to get him injured.

It was after dinner when the idea struck me. See, we still didn't know what to do with Kyle and Ren. Kyle had a stable job in the gangs, but that would probably not last the Yakuza scourge we were all hoping for. Ren was even more of an issue. Since the gangs hadnstarted demanding...favours off of the bordels, she'd gone into street prostitution, and any street-kid could tell you that that isn't safe. So I asked, asked Marvin if he had work for one or two more people. Marvin told me he couldn't pay them, and I said they'd probably work for room and food, at least for a while.

He said he'd think about it.

Then Armin told us his tale.

He'd been captured by street dealers and brought to a caravan full of naked people. Slavers. The men there had seen him around a pretty girl and wanted to know where she lived, they knocked him out when he wouldn't answer and before he knows it he's here.

Kyle promptly decides to stay the night. And so does everyone else.

A week later heralded the last day Mikasa and I went to school. Why? The Yakuza. The new teacher was a member and had promptly thrown me out. Mikasa left, because the man reminded her.

When the man first entered the classroom, she'd bolted. Jumped out the window and run off. I'd gone after her and found her sitting, shivering, two streets down behind a garbage heap.

The next day she wouldn't leave for school, and after both mine and juuji's cajoling accomplished nothing, we dropped it.

When I then came to the classroom, late, the gruff man wouldn't let me into the classroom, and when I wouldn't leave, he threw me out the window. That was the last straw for Momma. So, no more school.

Three weeks later the Yakuza had still not disappeared. By then, Lord Pein had been is our part of amegakure for almost a month. When the coin-boys came around to shake the metaphorical orange tree, we'd waited enough. The price had risen, and half the street got torn down as no-one could pay. Our house included. While we as a whole could have paid for all of us living with mama, namely Juuji, Mikasa, Armin, me and mama, that would have cost Armin his fees for the university in snow.

Kyle came by that day, and told us the gangs had gathered to deal with the Yakuza. Well, I say deal. The general feeling seems to have been very against Pein, as he didn't do anything to help. As the old Hanzo faction builds the backbone of the Yakuza, the plans are more along the lines of dissolving the gangs than any actual countermeasures. That would let people join the Hanzo faction.

... needless, we weren't happy about that.

It was a rainy night, and like a large part of ame, the old lady up the street caught pneumonia. As did Ren.

Medicine was hard to come by, and while Ren was ok again after a few days, the old lady was not. She died three days later.

As always, we prayed. Since the lady was the oldest on the street, following tradition the youngest, namely I, led the funeral. All our circle had come, and quite a few others I didn't know. One of which had long hair almost the shade of my dad's. Mum had given me her grandma's kimono to wear, and as it was to colorful for the season and too fragile for the rain, I wore the white overgarment of the lady three houses down ontop. The man who lived next to Juuji's old house had styled my hair and given me slender mahogany and ivory sticks to tie my hair up. The man with red hair had given me a single metal origami butterfly sat on a clip, and supplied everyone with basket full of little white paper flowers. These were tithes. Tradition states that in absence of family, all owned (and with family, all not in the will) goes to the respective mourner. Youngest to oldest. Second oldest to second youngest. In addition, each mourners supplies a tithe to this person, and he or she gives a tithe to every mourner at the funeral. All of this only applies if the respective mourners know each other. Otherwise it's optional. There are three types of tithes. funeral tithes, given during the proceedings to the speaker in absence of the diseased, gift tithes, given to the speaker beforehand, so he or she may use it during the funeral, and metaphorical tithes, if you have nothing to give or cannot give away what you have. This is then a symbol of what you wish to gift. Tithe must never be measured at monetary value, it is emotional attachment that counts. That is why stories are one of the most prized funeral tithes.

"We are here to celebrate the life and tale of one illyana of no clan of family. Ahead left us under dire circumstances which while sad, hold no place in these proceedings beyond to acknowledge that she passed on well past her prime. Our oldest her tale as told by Riku Mei, our youngest begins here in ame. As our youngest was told, she was a bright child born to the daughter of a shoe maker under an earlier reign. Of her early childhood no tales remain and no tithes to be made, and as such our youngest will follow on the river"

The ritual was older than recorded time in amegakure.

"In her schooldays she had three friends which moved with her through her childhood. All succumbed to death at a earlier day."

"As the son of one such friend I wish to tithe the skirt never returned."

"The tithe is accepted." The skirt, more of a rag now, was laid infront of me.

"As no more tithes remain and of her later childhood no tales are left to tell, our youngest will follow on the river. In her teenage years she knew a man or two, still accompanied by these friends. She was bridesmaid at one's wedding and married the brother of the other."

"I here wish to tithe their courting rings, as neither left any live family."

"The tithe is accepted."

"I wish to tell the tale of how groom and bride first met, as daughter of the third friend. It was at a ball. The spring ball for which the friends had saved for a full year. She jade worn a beautiful dress in red silk, and he a flitting suit of a friends. Said friend was well off and had paid for the man to enter. Bot saw each other and appreciated each other's appearance. This led to dance and drink, until both stood on a secluded balcony and told of their lives, confessing their status to those they thought elevated. Chuckles at the misunderstanding lead to dances of another kind, and that is the tale of their first kiss."

"Our youngest is grateful for the tale."

And so it continued through her life, leaving tales and anecdotes and tithes. Later in life the story grew more somber, with less and less tales and more tithes. Then a red head stepped up.

"This grateful wishes to impart a tale on our youngest. Three orphans without home or family lived alone in the streets. One winter of no food, an old lady, sitting hunched under a cardboard box supplied the three with bread, although she would have needed it more. This tale and their gratitude I wish to tithe."

"The tale and the tithe are accepted"

We burned her in the end, after everyone had thrown the flowers in the air and watched them float and unfold in the dusk. The tithes went into the box hurried in the corner of our room, under the rubble of the walls.

Three days Jarvis came to visit. Angry.

"We gotta do something."

"What happened?" "They burnt the circus down."

We sit together, away from the older ones. Me, Hugo, Jarvis and Mikasa.

"What can we do?" "What is we ask Lord Pein directly?" "What do you mean?" "Sneak in to meet him"

He was staying in a house we'd raided before. We could do it. We would do it. Tonight.

On our way to the square, we passed the man from so long ago, who had demanded money. There were ninja with him. Hanzo nin and one of Pein. We didn't think much of it.

Our entry way was the pipes. We all wore rebreather and an airsac. The pipes were full of murky rain water. We crawled single file after Hugo, until we found ourselves before the turbine of a water canister. The pipes were dry. Mikasa, who'd been practicing with Yuki made handseals. Doton. A hole appeared in the wall. We crawl through. It doesn't take long to find lord Pein. He's hunched over a table, doing paperwork. We knock on the door. He motions us to come in.

"Lord Pein, we have come here with a request."

At my voice, his head raises.

"Who are you." The man is white as paper, and thin. Not debilitatingly, but still.

"Riku Mei, member Pfizer a thief ring run by the red phoenix. But that doesn't matter here." He raises an eyebrow.

"We're here to ... to plea that our god lord Pein, as thou art, remove the Yakuza from our city." Hugo continues.

"And you are?"

"Hugo. Circus performer."

"And Yakuza?"

"Lord Pein, the dredges of Hanzo's minions have banded together to form a group called Yakuza. They deal in illegal and immoral, such as slavetrade and the drug market, as well as demanding protection money. They have a stranglehold on the economy, and only they are profiting. Everyone else is going hungry. It's been a steady worsening of the post war depression, without sign of recovery. They're also monopolizing crime, but that's a minor point."

"They burned down the circus." - Jarvis

"They rape and plunder."

I was surprised to hear Mikasa be so open about it.

Lord Pein's expression was getting steadily darker.

"Tell me, how did you get into here?"

"The pipes."

"I dismiss you."

We left, burban before we were completely out of earshot, we heard our god ask about the Yakuza.

I grinned at the others.

On our way out we met the lady Angel, and I realized she had an origami clip in her hair. The twin of mine. We bowed, she led us out the door.

Me and Mikasa headed home. We were about two blocks away. When we both stopped. It smelt of smoke. We looked at each other before starting to sprint.

Our street was in flames. The group outside was huddled around a set of bodies. Most of my neighbors were there. But the important people weren't. Mama. Mama. Marvin sat in the corner, head between his knees. Mama. The crowd shifted. I'm so sorry, dear. A voice says. Mama. Now I'm at the front. There are three bodies. A man, with a tattoo on his hand. It would be anyone, I tell myself. The corpse is too burnt up to tell. A boy, with a knife sticking out his chest, and empty eyes. Juuji. No burn marks. Juuji. I collapse. To the side I see Armin. Torniquet on his leg. Half his thigh is missing. All burnt up. He's screaming. The third corpse has eyes. That won't ever smile again, that the spark won't burn again. A mouth that woot ever smirk or cuss. Kunai to the head. Charred lover body. Cut up clothes and hands. Not the fire.

"Who did this?" I mouth.

Who do I have to kill.

"Who did this?" I ask quietly. I'm beyond pushes the grief away.

"A man. He had ninja with him."

I remember the group we walked past.

"Ah." It hasn't sunk in yet.

My hand hangs uselessly over her head. What do I do?

I pull out the kuni slowly. Then I stand-up and walk towards the fire I see more kunai and pick them up too. I roll them in what's left of mama's dress. That in Juuji and the other hulk of charcoal.

I turn and see Mikasa breaking down. Marvin moves to conform her but she shyes away. I just turn and stare at the fire. At some point in time, the others come by. Jarvis Hugo and the rest. Also Kyle, which I register as relief. The sun has gone down and dawn is on the horizon when the flames finally die down. I can hear Pein's troops over the wind. I move my heavy limbs to the corner of the room, and dig until I reach the box. I pull it out and open it. In it is money, pictures and the tithes. The dress, and other parnaphelia, but there are also metal plates. With etchings. Head bands. Some are of the five major villages, some are from known minor ones. Obey is from ame, with Hanzo carved into it. But most have a symbol I'd never seen before.

A spiral.

I'm lost, and somehow that symbol steadied me. These belong to my family. My history.

As the sun breaches the clouds, I decide that it's time to leave. Leave amegakure, and find my father, him who's headband I holding. A spiral with a line through it.


End file.
